Up, Up and Away - Venice

After spending a week in Florence we took the train to Venice. Walking out from the train station, we were amazed at the fact there were no streets, but only canals.  All transportation is via the canals - cab boats, bus boats, trash boats, supply boats and all else boats.  We truly enjoyed our days visiting the city.

Again, we took a walking tour and discovered so many wonderful sights - St, Mark's church, Doge Palace, Marco Polo's neighborhood and so much more.  St. Mark's church was breathtaking.  The tiny mosaics outside and covering the inside is done in 24 carat gold.  I can't begin to imagine what the cost would be today.  As well, there are four life sized horse sculptures done in gold too.  Until 30 years ago they were in St. Mark's square, but have now been moved to the inside of the church.  Unfortunately, there were no photos allowed on the inside.

Some of what we saw....

The Main Canal - the Interstate!

Rialto Bridge

St Mark's

Gold mosaic on outside of church

Another gold mosaic

St Mark's Square from the church balcony

The clock tower from the 1500s.  The two little men on top hammer out the hour to this day.

Marco Polo Square

The current hospital

Doge Palace

Golden Stairway at Doge Palace

Ceiling in Doge Palace

Another interior ceiling...so much gold everywhere.

The boat dock (front door) of our hotel.

A bridge over the water street.

High tide brings the water to your front door.  Yikes!

To die for- cannoli!!!

Loved the pretty marzipan fruits - so realistic looking.

Bet you can't guess what this is.  This was what they used before there was indoor plumbing.  To keep the men from using the corners of buildings to relieve themselves they put these rounded structures in the corners.  Apparently, it had a splash back effect on the men.  

One last gondola...farewell to Venice.  Next stop is Lucerne, Switzerland.